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Case Study - Pilot Gig restoration 

Programme: Your Heritage 
Applicant: Newquay Rowing Club 
Grant awarded: £9,600 
Project length: 12 Months  

Pilot Gigs - printable (MS Word, 278KB) 

Summary

Newquay Rowing Club looks after three of the last surviving pilot gigs (rowing boats) in mainland UK - with the oldest, Newquay, dating back to 1812. Gig racing was a well-established and popular sport all around Cornwall before its decline in the 1880s.  After that many gigs were left to rot, or broken up and reused for other purposes.  This award-winning project set out to restore these rare pilot gigs so that they could once again be raced at Newquay.  With the help of volunteers, one of Cornwall’s best boat builders carried out restoration work on Newquay at the National Maritime Museum (NMM) in Cornwall. Pamphlets and a photo chronicle of the restoration project were produced and will be used in future displays at the NMM and other events.

The aims of the project

  • To repair and restore probably the three oldest pilot gig rowing boats in the UK (and possibly the oldest rowing boats still in use in the world).
  • To involve young people in the restoration work.
  • To pass on knowledge of traditional boat building skills.
  • To make the restored boats available for rowing by members of the community – to experience pilot gigs first hand.

Benefits for heritage

  • The restoration work replaced faulty timber, making the boats structurally sound and enabling their future use.
  • Traditional boat restoration skills were passed on to volunteers and young people, helping to ensure the future survival of the gigs.
  • Restoring the boat at the museum meant the public could view the work in progress and learn about traditional boat building skills and pilot gigs in particular.
  • Simple, temporary exhibition display panels of the restoration project were created and have been used across the county at different events.
  • There was wide media interest in the work, raising the profile of local heritage and the importance of traditional skills.

Benefits for people

  • The project involved about 20 volunteers in the restoration of the boats.
  • Several hundred people viewed the work at the NMM.
  • Nearly 200 people have used and enjoyed the restored boats at Newquay Harbour.
  • Local school children have undertaken project work based on the restoration and rowed the gigs.

Lessons learnt

  • The time and cost of restoration was under estimated as the applicant could not afford to start investigatory work on the state of the gigs until after HLF grant approval. A contingency budget would have been useful.

Long term benefits

  • The efforts of the volunteer group at Newquay Rowing Club were recognised when won a national award for their imaginative project in the Nationwide Community and Heritage Awards in 2008.
  • One volunteer has further developed vital skills in traditional boat building.
  • Replicas of the original gigs are being built and the popularity of the sport is increasing amongst men, women and under 16s.

The budget

Main Project Costs £ Funding £
 Repair, conservation and materials  7,536  From own organisation  1,000
 Project costs of publicity materials  1,170  HLF Grant (%)  9,600
 Training and travel  1,927  Total  10,633


A craftsman at work restoring a pilot gig 

Work on one of the pilot gigs 

Sector

Industry, Maritime and Transport 

Activity

Conservation